PhonePe Elevates Srijon Biswas To CTO, Cofounder Rahul Chari Takes On CPTO Role

Fintech major PhonePe has elevated its financial services’ engineering head Srijon Biswas to the position of chief technology officer (CTO). In his new role, Biswas, who has been with the company since 2016, will oversee PhonePe’s engineering organisation.

However, the new CTO will continue to report to PhonePe’s cofounder and erstwhile CTO Rahul Chari. Stepping away from the CTO role, Chari will now take charge as PhonePe’s product and technology officer (CPTO).

As part of a “broader evolution of leadership responsibilities”, the cofounder will now oversee PhonePe’s tech and product functions, in addition to trust & safety, data sciences & analytics, and customer experience, while leading other strategic initiatives across the company. 

“As PhonePe continues to expand and grow, strengthening our technology leadership is a natural step. Srijon’s appointment ensures we continue to invest deeply in engineering excellence while building the technology platforms that will power the future of digital India,” Chari said.

The rejig comes amid multiple leadership exits for PhonePe. Over the past few months, PhonePe’s insurance arm head Vishal Gupta, mobile app marketplace Indus Appstore’s CEO Akash Dongre and wealth management vertical Share.Market’s CEO Ujjwal Jain have stepped down from their roles.

The volatility in leadership comes at a time when the Walmart-owned company has put an indefinite pause on its public listing plans in India. After filing for an initial public offering (IPO) via the confidential route last year, the UPI leader pulled the brakes on the IPO citing market volatility.

As per its updated draft red herring prospectus (UDRHP), filed with the SEBI in January, the company’s proposed IPO will only feature an offer-for-sale (OFS) component. PhonePe backers Walmart, Tiger Global and Microsoft intend to offload over 5 Cr shares via the IPO. 

The size of the company’s IPO has been pegged at around ₹12,000 Cr ($1.35 Bn) at valuation of about $15 Bn.

On the financial front, PhonePe’s net loss grew 20% to ₹1,444.4 Cr in the first half of FY26, while its operating revenue grew 22.2% to ₹3,918.5 Cr in the same period. For the full year FY25, the IPO-bound company’s top line zoomed 41% to ₹7,114.8 Cr, from ₹5,064.1 Cr in FY24. It managed to narrow its FY25 net loss by 14% YoYto ₹1,727.4 Cr.

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